Manchester United vs Arsenal: Per Mertesacker urges Gunners to bounce back from Barcelona defeat against Red Devils

Per Mertesacker and his teammates will travel to Old Trafford for the next fixtureReuters

Arsenal star Per Mertesacker has urged his teammates to bounce back from their latest defeat in the Champions League at the hands of Barcelona, when they face Manchester United in the Premier League clash at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Lionel Messi's brace in the second half saw Arsene Wenger's side suffer a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the treble winners at the Emirates on Tuesday. The last time the north London club faced Louis van Gaal's side saw Arsenal register a comfortable 3-0 victory. It should be seen whether they can seal a double over United in the 2015-16 season in the league.

"We have never [felt sorry for ourselves] this season, particularly when we have lost a game we have tried to bounce back quickly," Mertesacker told Sky Sports.

"I think we have a great chance on Sunday to do that again and to show we are still in a strong position and still competing for the title."

"It was obviously a disappointing ending, I think we defended so well over 70, 80 minutes and then got punished twice."

"How we defended and kept going over 80 minutes was all right. We tried so hard to cover each other but someone was always a little bit late on that counter-attack."

"There is always something positive we take from this game and we go to Manchester because we want to compete in the Premier League.

"We are in a good position and we don't want to give that position up, it is a great chance to get focus back on the Premier League and forget what happened in the last 20 minutes and just focus on what went well."

Arsenal's latest loss has made it difficult for the Gunners to progress to the next round of the Europe's elite club competition. Mertesacker still believes his side have a chance to make it to the quarter-final of the Champions League.

"We will try with effort and spirit, we won't give up, honestly. There is a small chance, small margins obviously but we could see they were vulnerable at times," the German international added.